


all that i've compromised

by doubtthestars



Series: with the sun in our eyes [4]
Category: Men's Football RPF
Genre: Angst, Bedtime Stories, Dialogue Heavy, Gen, Interlude
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-03
Updated: 2019-05-03
Packaged: 2020-02-16 17:28:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,671
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18696034
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/doubtthestars/pseuds/doubtthestars
Summary: Manu doesn't want to bring up the past but it keeps coming back to haunt him.Manu and Boa talk without really talking.





	all that i've compromised

**Author's Note:**

> "Don't wanna wait for you  
> Don't wanna have to lose  
> All that I've compromised  
> to feel another high  
> I've got to keep it down tonight
> 
> And oh, oh, oh  
> I was a king under your control  
> And oh, oh, oh  
> I wanna feel like you've let me go  
> So let me go
> 
> Don't you remember how I used to like  
> Being on the line?  
> I dreamed you dreamed of me calling out my name  
> Is it worth the price?"
> 
> "King" by Years and Years

“Once there was a boy who ran with wolves.” 

“Like us?” 

“Yes, just like you. The boy was a prince with two best friends that were werewolves. One was a knight and the other was a blacksmith.”

“What’s a blacksmith?” “Soley, shut up.” 

“Don’t tell your sister to shut up. It’s not nice and that’s a good question. A blacksmith works with metal so he can make stuff like swords and shields, but he can also fix things if they’re broken. The prince and his friends grew up in a big blue castle.”

“Like Cinderella’s!” “No, her _dress_ was blue.” “Her castle was too.” 

“Nuh uh.” “Yes huh.” 

“I can’t tell you a story if you keep fighting. Ask your daddy to watch Cinderella tomorrow and you can figure out if the castle was blue.”

“Okay,” his audience reluctantly agreed.

“So the prince and his friends made a pact-”

“A pack? Like daddy’s?” 

“No, a pact. It’s like a promise. They made a pact to win a lot of...battles and get a lot of gold so the blacksmith could make a crown for each of them. But the prince had a secret wish, even though he was strong and brave and a very good prince, he thought being a wolf would be even better. His friends thought it was a good idea too.” 

“But the knight had heard of a special tournament in a far away land up north. The boy and the knight had been invited to fight but the blacksmith couldn’t go because he wasn’t of royal blood and he was very sad to be left behind. The prince and the knight agreed that they would find the special potion to turn the prince into a wolf after the tournament.”

“Why didn’t the knight just bite the prince?” 

“Um, it wasn’t allowed. The kingdom didn’t allow just anybody to be a wolf or else everybody would want to be one, right? So the magic potion was the only option. While the prince and the knight went to visit the other kingdom, the blacksmith made an important decision. He wanted to leave the kingdom to learn more about blacksmithing, to be the best blacksmith, to make the kingdom proud.” 

“Are you tired yet?” He got two headshakes. 

“Right, so the blacksmith made presents for his friends, so they wouldn’t forget him. For the knight, he made a shield and for the prince, he made a sword. The prince and the knight came back to the kingdom victorious, but when they heard the news of the blacksmith leaving, the prince got angry and the knight was sad. The prince vowed he would never use the sword and gave it to the knight to keep with his shield.”

“Are you sure you’re not tired?” He sighs.

“Did the prince become a wolf?” 

“No, the potion didn’t work. The prince called on the court magician to ask him what went wrong and he said the prince had been cursed and could never be a wolf.”

“But couldn’t they fix him with magic?” 

“The curse was too strong to break. Nobody could fix him. The prince looked for the best magicians and witches but he couldn’t be a wolf no matter what they tried. All the knight ever wanted was to help the prince with his wish and when he couldn’t, his heart broke. So the knight thought if the prince couldn’t be a wolf, he could help him be king. The knight trained hard so he could lead the royal army to victory.”

“But the prince wasn’t happy, and negotiated a marriage to another kingdom. The knight came to say goodbye to the prince and gave him his sword back, for protection because the knight couldn't follow him to the kingdom in the south. The prince, grateful for the sword and wanting to reward the knight for all his hard work, gave him his crown in return. So the prince went with his sword to the south and once he arrived, he heard the blacksmith had made the journey back to his old kingdom, wiser and stronger. The prince knew the blacksmith would forge a new sword for the knight so he could be the rightful king that the kingdom needed. The prince stayed in his new castle, becoming the best dragon-slayer in the land.”

“So he was happy in the end?” 

“Yes, he went on many adventures and fought a lot of new monsters for his new kingdom. Now, you have to go to sleep so I don’t get in trouble with your dad.” 

“We will. Goodnight, Uncle Manu.” 

“Goodnight girls.” He left the room only to bump into Boa. 

“How long have you been standing there?” 

“Long enough to hear you marry Bayern and know that you let Lamia and Soley stay up past their curfew so they better get to sleep now.” He says sternly to their bedroom door and got a few stray giggles in return. Boa shakes his head before nodding his head toward the entertainment room. Manu shoves his hands into his pockets, already predicting that Boa would want to _talk_.

“I’m taking my payment for babysitting on date night in beer.” Specifically the beer he had left in the fridge to cool when he arrived. 

“I didn’t sign up for a sleepover.” Boa says flatly. 

“Oh no, your daughters already tried braiding my hair and listened to my deepest darkest secrets, so we’re good. I’ll be out of here before morning, don’t worry. I’m going to find something to watch on your insane sports package, finish my beer, and be on my way. Is it getting serious? Your hot date gonna show up and smell me around?” He teases. 

“No, and no, we’re still feeling it out.” 

“Oh please, you like him. A lot. I still can’t believe you asked Jan for his blessing, and he actually gave it to you. That’s like masterful, man, now Magnus can’t say anything against it. Did you get tips from Xabi before he left?” 

“Jan’s like my great uncle twice-removed or something like that. It wasn’t that hard.” Boa scoffs. Manu laughs in his face. 

“Yeah, okay, whatever you say, Mr. Calm and Collected. So when’s he gonna meet the family?” He waggled his eyebrows just to be extra irritating.

“He’s already met the family and the pack, genius.” Boa retorts.

“Not officially, and not all of it. Did you tell your sister you’re dating a bitten wolf?” Boa grimaces at the question. “Oh wow, you told me before your sister? I’m touched, truly.” He holds a hand up to his heart, swooning in place.

“You’re pack, Manu, and you’re nosier than Mats.” 

“High praise." He says drily. "You should stop taking in strays you know. Mats is more likely to start a fight than hold hands.” And they both knew that to be true if the years on the national team had taught them anything.

“Is he still bothering you about taking the lead on human pack orientation?” Bothering him was an interesting way of saying gloating in his face over an extremely dumb title. 

“It’s not my job and I don’t want it.” Manu crossed his arms. Fips and Boa had tried in various ways to convince him to give it a chance, but Manu didn’t want to be human liaison for the Bayern den. He actually couldn’t think of anything he wanted less currently. It was a glorified position that had no actual power, no matter how much Mats threatened to stage a coup. 

“Right, you’ve said that before.” Boa shifts on his feet before sighing. “Do you want to talk about why I found you using my kids as unlicensed therapists to talk about your tragic history in fairytale form?” 

“Not really. It’s not your problem.” Manu says cooly.

“Manu, you’re part of my pack-”

“Am I though? Den leader, head of pack, starting CB, doesn’t it all get a little mixed up in there?” Manu motions around his head with both his hands. 

“Oh-kay...you don’t have to use pack. How about friend then?” Boa asks.

“A real friend would let me have liquor.” He automatically replies, deflecting the tension neatly in one go.

Boa rolls his eyes, “I don’t have any.”

“You’re a filthy liar, Boateng. I’ll find your stash one day.” Manu points at him threateningly.

“Seriously though, I do have one thing to talk to you about, as den leader.” Boa watches Manu deflate from his over the top idiotic joker to something more sober.

“What is it?” 

“Cut it out with Sven. You’re leading the kid on. Arjen told me you were pretty broken up over a certain 'blacksmith' and Sven's a good guy who deserves better than a rebound."

"Oh, fuck you. You take a man out for drinks and he tattles to the whole den, jesus, I never picked Arjen as a gossip. Sven knows it's not serious." 

"I have a working nose and a working brain, Manu. Friends with benefits doesn't mean spending every other home game on his couch. I know with the injury, the news about Benni, and Fährmann getting engaged..."

"Don't. You don't know. You don't know anything besides what you heard through the grapevine and fucking eavesdropping." 

"Because you won't talk about it and Benni looked like someone _died_ when I asked." Boa snaps out, finally rising to Manu's ire.

Manu laughs, mean and loud until it didn't sound like much of a laugh at all.

"Yeah, yeah. Okay, I'll talk to Sven as long as you stop talking about this and stop asking about it. You've got enough to worry about with Mats' stupidity and the new kids coming in. I'll fuck around outside of the team, got it." He salutes, but his face still looks like he's in pain rather than joking, his eyes distant even as he smiles.

"You could talk to me, if you ever wanted to."

"I don't." He says firmly. "Enjoy the beer. I'm going home."

**Author's Note:**

> oh man so the fairytale was always going to be the bridge between the gaps of "the schalke drama" I don't expect to actually write it all out but we might get some flashbacks and such since everyone and their mother has tried to get Manu to talk about it at some point. 
> 
> the fairytale might come back in another iteration (without werewolves) since it's been on my mind since frauke and i talked about it over whatsapp and i adore it.


End file.
